Such a cool experience in Portland... A tall ship docked next to the Maine State Pier behind RiRa…read moreand The new Science Center. I loved the interactive aspect of this tour. We were taken around by one of the crew members and he showed us the various parts of the ship. I don't know if there are words to describe being on a ship of this size and feeling like you've slipped back in time. This ship was built in 2009 (which was shocking enough) as a replica of a historic Spanish ship. There are crew on the ship that have sailed all over the world. The ship winters in the Caribbean and Florida and travels up the coast... This thing is MASSIVE!! Pay the money and go on this ship!

"General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't…read moresee that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends... If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around." This quote, from none other than Prime Minister Hugh Grant of "Love Actually" perfectly explains Love Locks here in Portland. Up until February 2013 it was just a fence... a nondescript fence that hundreds of thousands of people passed every year without a second glance... until one night some drunken friends decided to buy padlocks, write a dedication to a loved one on it (for one of the original women, that included her husband and two dogs), lock it on the fence, then dispose of the key. Portland has such a European (where this idea originated from) feel to it, that it only makes sense for us to have our own version of Love Locks, too! Some folks think it's an eye sore... I think it's lovely. So lovely in fact that I may or may not have a lock up there myself (and I may or may not have thrown my key over the fence into the ocean... which I now realize isn't entirely eco-friendly. Dear fishies, please be careful grazing on any new sparkly snacks you might have recently found!). What can I say? I love love. And I love the ocean. And I love this city. And I love romantic gestures. And I love the strong bonds people have with other people, places, and pets. And I love unique forms of art. And I love pretty things. Don't you? Who knows if our Love Locks will stand the test of time. If, over the years, the locks begin to rust and become an eye sore instead of love lore, I would think the city might take it down. So come leave a lock of love for your loved one (be that your mom, your sister, your pet rabbit, your favorite coffee drink, or yourself) now... or at least take the time to read some of the proclamations of passion permanently padlocked here in Portland!

They're locks... on a fence. That's 5 stars right there. haha They're right in the middle of the…read moreOld Port and it was cool seeing it since I've never seen a love locks fence before in person. It is small and insignificant for most, but for it to have a yelp listing -- I had to check it out. They are tons of locks on it and most of them looked recent with in the year. That poor fence is holding on for dear life. If you're a lover want to lock it in -- put a lock on the love locks fence to make it official. That's more lasting than facebook official. Story has it that once you lock it up, that you toss the key in the water over the fence after the fact. Superstition has it that once you lose the key -- your love is locked together forever.

Went here with my mother for my birthday! They have a lovely wine selection and allow you to sample…read morethe wine before ordering. Food was incredible, I come from a Greek family and was not disappointed! Portions are on the smaller and pricier side, definitely more of a "special occasion" dining spot for me at least. Staff were friendly and helpful. Atmosphere was cozy and rustic. Overall great experience :)

We were delighted to eat out on the back patio on a beautiful evening. Jaxson was our server and…read morehe was top notch. He had wonderful stories about each menu item. We loved the Grecian - a Greek themed mixed appetizer plate with yummy pitas. The only addition that would have been good was a wedge of lemon but we devoured it before asking for one. LOL. We shared the shrimp appetizer- Gamberi e Agrumi- which was cooked perfectly but honestly it was the sauce that stole the show! Pistachio orange honey sauce - mmmm- so good. Then we shared Keftedes which was nice - half vegetarian for me and half lamb/beef. They were good but we couldn't stop thinking about the shrimp sauce. I had some Greek red wine which was fabulous!! We made a note to ourselves to be sure and stop here anytime we are in Brunswick.

This was amazing. I'm so glad we decided to go down the coast and take this walk. We decided to go…read moreat sunrise. Although there was overcast, it was still a beautiful walk. I imagined the people who walked this jetty every single day and I was jealous. We didn't tour the lighthouse but we've seen plenty of lighthouses. We've never seen one out a mile though. Don't miss this gem! Be sure to use the bathroom before coming here as we did not see any portapods. Also, wear shoes with hood support. We saw a few wearing flip flops; so t know how they did it. I wouldn't take the risk of tripping.

The ending to a perfect day in Maine? Watching the sunset from a jetty of course!…read more After spending the day exploring coastal areas in southern Maine, we decided to walk the jetty near Wells Harbor/York Beach. We didn't know what to expect when we discovered this spot - so when you come know that there are two jetty's. One you can access from the elongated, sandy parking area on Foster Ln (which was free to use and deserted when we came in early November); and, one you can access from a bigger, concrete parking area at the end of Atlantic Ave (beyond Sage Fishing Charters - it's pay to park here, but I don't know if that's just during the height of the summer season). These jetty's are long (I read somewhere that they're over a mile) stone breakwaters that stretch out relatively far from land into the Atlantic. It's beautiful to walk down and back as you get stunning views of Wells Harbor, the beach on either side, and great for bird watching too (we were captivated by some sanderlings!). It's important to be mindful when walking on jetty's though - these big boulders have crevices between them, so "mind the gap"; if the ocean is rough, you might also get soaked from waves crashing against them! Absolutely worth seeing, especially in the shoulder season when it's got that much more serene, humble feeling to it!

We brought 12, 3-4 year olds to the beach today for World Ocean Day. Everyone at check-in was…read morereally nice, and super friendly. There was plenty of empty space so we had our own spot to play, draw, run, look in tide pools, and scurry in/out of the water. The kids had an absolute blast and will be talking about this for a long time. Several even got a high five on our way out. Clean rest rooms. Tables for us to sit, chat, and where we could put our shoes back on.

Enjoyed a tasty lunch at Pemaquid Beach. The fried haddock and haddock tacos were so good. It was a…read morelittle too chilly for a beach day, but the beach is beautiful. Very peaceful area, great for families!

Stopped in at St. Tropez while spending an afternoon at Old Orchard Beach. We dropped in to find…read moresome cheesy clothing for some family members as gifts from our vacation. This store had a ton of OOB items as well as a ton of tacky gimmick attire. The prices were reasonable and they had a ton of inexpensive shirts. We ended up stocking up on gifts for little money. Overall, this is a decent store but there are a ton of similar shops on the strip. The biggest positive was that the staff here was fairly polite.

Yep...this is a thing and it's kind of cool!…read more The name fits for sure...and I suppose the name is easy, entertaining and folks are used to it. But I couldn't help but wonder if it had a history of some sort and/or another name. I had to do some asking around and research to find out the original and/or real name of the statue and it is Chief Passamaquoddy. As the story and/or history of the statue goes: Once upon a time there was a Trading Post/Company (Casco Bay) where the Indian still stands today and it was put up by the owner, Julian Leslie. Apparently, Julian was a jovial person who liked to put junk cars in the parking lot to make it look busy and attract customers. One day he was having lunch in Boothbay and saw their fisherman statue and decided he wanted a statue...and an even bigger statue. He contacted the creator, Rodman Shutt and the rest is history. The statue was erected on 26 Aug 1969...it stands approximately 40 feet tall and weighs around 1500 pounds. He has been repainted a few times over the years, but for the most part he remains the same. The Trading Post is gone, but this piece of history still stands waiting on and greeting visitors today. And if you are wondering what replaced the Trading Post...I don't know, but there is the El Jefe restaurant nearby today. I thought it was pretty cool myself since I like unique things, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. It is, however, located on US 1 and a lot of folks take this corridor for exploration. For us, we were not only trying to take US 1 to explore, but it was literally in the area we were visiting, so it wasn't really out of the way for me/us. If you are on a road trip and/or visiting the area and this is in your path...why not stop and take a quick look? It is our interest that keeps things like this intact.

As recently as 1983, Bryant Pond (Maine) was still operating a hand-cranked telephone system. The…read moreBryant Pond Telephone Company made the switch and their 431 customers were the last in the United States to be connected to the direct-dial network. To remember the old days, and commemorate the fact that they were special, they built this sculpture in 2008. Local resident Gil Whitman built this 14-foot "candlestock" phone, complete with working crank, as a permanent installation here in Remembrance Park across from the post office. [Review 18549 overall - 101 in Maine - 2071 of 2022.]

Welp, what can I say. It's exactly what it says. It's a big telephone. Cool to see, wouldn't go out…read moreof your way to visit though.

One of Boothbay Harbor's calling cards, the Pedestrian Footbridge. While not very long, it takes…read moreyou over the water and offers some nice views, albeit brief. While nothing exciting, this is definitely one of the things where it's about appreciating the little things. Its just a short wooden bridge across the water, but at the same time its so much more.

What a cool spot! We went to explore boothbay harbor and we didn't know this bridge was here. It…read moreconnects the two sides so you can go shopping and check out some other spots. They also have benches where you can just sit and enjoy the view. The history is also super neat!

We stopped here last night with the kids after having wanted to stop for the longest time…read more(out-of-towners). The staff was very friendly, though there was an hourlong wait for an indoor table (definitely make reservations!) or 10 minutes for outside (which was a little surprising given how many open tables there were). Both the indoor and outdoor spaces were super cool with some really amazing gardens outside in full bloom and then the more darkly lit, warm and cozy, and open concept with a great view of the kitchen team hard at work. I was the only one at the table to get a cocktail, to which I chose the blueberry lemon drop. It was really well balanced with a nice blueberry flavor without being overpowering. My wife got a merlot, which she enjoyed. The kids both enjoyed their chocolate milk and strawberry lemonade. Food wise we started with a caesar salad, which was good but pretty mild in flavor. It could have used a little more parm and either more pop to the dressing or just more of it. My wife got the (gluten free) baked focaccia and the lobster bisque for her dinner. She was melting over the focaccia (which I agree was the flavor bomb though I admit the gf bread was a little gummy - not abnormal for gf bread though and didn't really bother me). The lobster bisque she found equally delicious. I also found it quite tasty though did find it a little thinner on the mouthfeel than maybe normal. My MIL got the mussels that she said were really tasty and we found were locally sourced. I got the short rib. It was a large chunk of extremely tender meat with some absolutely delicious mashed potatoes. The gravy was pretty solid for it though I would have preferred it with a little more beefy flavor than maybe the wine. The carrots were a little disappointing, if I'm being honest. They were cut into vastly different sizes, which led to some majorly uneven cooking and even the smallest pieces were still much too firm - not crunchy but not really tender beyond the first quarter inch or so. It was almost like the were par cooked whole and then chopped up after. Definitely atypical and not really up my alley for carrots. Overall, aside from a couple very minor misses, this place was absolutely a winner and I'm absolutely getting some brick oven pizza next time!

10 of us went here for dinner here before the welcoming party at Mast Landing Brewery for our…read moreniece's wedding. We plug into two groups. The "parents" and the ladylike children". My wife and I each started with the Caesar salad. Then she had the halibut and I had the divers scallops. Both dishes were very good. Our server was training a new person, but she gave us extra attention. All warranted. Overall a very good experience. We'd come here again.